It is a sad mission to cut through and destroy with the scissors of analysis the delicate and iridescent veils with which our proud mediocrity clothe….

Good sense travels on the well-worn paths; genius, never. And that is why the crowd, not altogether without reason, is so ready to treat great men as….

Unfortunately, goodness and honor are rather the exception than the rule among exceptional men, not to speak of geniuses.

The appearance of a single great genius is more than equivalent to the birth of a hundred mediocrities.

The ignorant man always adores what he cannot understand.

Genius is one of the many forms of insanity..

God and I both knew what it meant once; now God alone knows..

Klopstock was questioned regarding the meaning of a passage in his poem. He replied, 'God and I both knew what it meant once; now God alone knows.'.